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Middleweight slugger Sam Alvey (31-9 MMA, 8-4 UFC) has made it clear he wants to stay as busy as possible, and that includes picking up the phone whenever the UFC calls.
This time, the voice on the other end of the line asked him to step in on a little more than one week’s notice to replace Trevor Smith (15-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC) and face Russian prospect Ramazan Emeev (15-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 118.
Alvey said yes.

Fabricio Werdum barely broke a sweat at UFC 216 and he’s already booked himself another fight.
The UFC announced Tuesday that Werdum will step in for Mark Hunt to fight Marcin Tybura (16-2) in the main event of UFC Sydney on Nov. 19. Hunt was removed from the card due to medical concerns.

Bryan Caraway is returning from an absence of just over a year and a half.
The bantamweight contender will meet Luke Sanders at UFC Fresno on Dec. 9. MMA Fighting confirmed an initial Tuesday report by ESPN.com.
Caraway (21-7) has won two straight fights and four of his past five. When we last saw him in action, Caraway made a strong comeback from a bad start against Aljamain Sterling and won a split decision in Las Vegas on May 29, 2016. Caraway was scheduled to meet Jimmie Rivera on Jan. 15, but was forced to withdraw due to an undisclosed injury.

A classic battle of a cagey veteran vs. a real up-and-comer is heading to Fresno.
Popular Cub Swanson will meet Brian Ortega in a featherweight bout on the Dec. 9 UFC Fight Night Fresno card. UFC Espanol confirmed a previous ESPN report.
Swanson (25-7) has been on the national radar since joining the WEC in 2007. The JacksonWink MMA competitor is on a four-fight win streak and has seven Fight of the Night bonuses to his credit, including in each of his past two fights.

Boston Salmon has a new opponent for UFC Sao Paulo.
With Augusto Mendes sidelined due to an injury, “Boom Boom” will now take on RFA featherweight champion Raoni Barcelos in a bantamweight bout in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Oct. 28. MMA Fighting confirmed the match-up following a report by Combate.

Move over Bud Light.
On Monday, the UFC announced that they would be ending their nine-year relationship with beer company Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. that regularly saw the Bud Light logo prominently featured inside the Octagon at events, and moving on to a multiyear sponsorship deal with Mexican import brand Modelo Especial, per ABC News.
The new deal is expected to begin in 2018, with Modelo receiving similar exposure as far as branding in the UFC cage and advertisements featuring the company’s fighters and personalities.

Newly crowned UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson was the top earner at UFC 216, serving as one of five fighters to clear the six-figure mark in earnings for his performance on Saturday night. The Nevada Athletic Commission released the event’s finalized salary information this weekend to MMA Fighting.

Despite a main card fallout last night (Sat., Oct. 7, 2017) at UFC 216 live on pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the action delivered in exciting waves. Not only did Tony Ferguson choke out Kevin Lee in the main event to claim the interim UFC lightweight title, but Demetrious Johnson locked down his 11th-straight title defense with a suplex/armbar finish of Ray Borg, former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum finished fill-in Walt Harris in just 65 seconds, Lando Vannata fought Bobby Green to a bloody draw that is easily one of the best fights of the year, and former flyweight title challenger John Moraga pulled off a huge upset knockout over Russian prospect Magomed Bibulatov.

Just minutes before UFC 216 was slated to begin, a key matchup was pulled from tonight’s lineup, but all is not lost.
Derrick Lewis (18-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) suffered a last-minute injury and was forced to withdraw from his heavyweight showdown with Fabricio Werdum (21-7-1 MMA, 9-4 UFC) on tonight’s card, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a pay-per-view main card following prelims on FX and UFC Fight Pass.
It’s believed Lewis’ previously injured back flared up on him this week. He made weight Friday without issue but realized today he wouldn’t be able to fight through the back pain.
As a result, Walt Harris (10-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC), who was previously scheduled to fight Mark Godbeer (12-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC), steps in on last-minute notice to face Werdum. Godbeer is off the card but reportedly will still receive his show money.

Georges St-Pierre’s most aggressive foray into trash talk was about a decade ago, telling Matt Hughes, “I’m not impressed by your performance.”
GSP, one of the best fighters of all time, upped his game a bit Friday at a UFC 217 press conference in Las Vegas. Sitting feet from his Nov. 4 opponent, Michael Bisping, St-Pierre made a strong statement.
Maybe it’s appropriate that the fight is at Madison Square Garden, because GSP channeled his Canadian countryman, New York Rangers legend Mark Messier, by guaranteeing a victory. St-Pierre acknowledged Bisping's spot among the greatest in UFC history, but added that caveat.

UFC Sao Paulo took another hit.
Two days after Augusto Mendes was forced out of the card with a leg injury, the event lost Luan Chagas, as the Brazilian welterweight announced on his social media that he can’t compete with Niko Pride on Oct. 28 due to a broken foot.

Kevin Lee seems to be putting his weight-cutting issues behind him, hours out of the biggest fight of his life.
The top UFC lightweight contender needed two attempts Friday morning to reach championship weight for his UFC 216 interim title bout against Tony Ferguson. Lee first weighed in at 156 — one pound over the 155-pound maximum. Due to Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) rules, Lee was given one more hour to reach the mark and he hit it — 154.5 — with just minutes to spare at around 12:15 p.m. local time.

An American Top Team grudge match isn’t going to go down after all Saturday night.
Nik Lentz has been pulled from a fight with former teammate Will Brooks at UFC 216 in Las Vegas due to medical issues, the UFC announced Friday morning. Combat Press was the first to report the news.

LAS VEGAS — The last time Tony Ferguson was in this spot, it was early March, and his interim UFC lightweight title tilt against Khabib Nurmagomedov was all anybody could talk about as Ferguson performed for the fans inside the T-Mobile Arena at UFC 209 open workouts.